The regulatory mandate comes from the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores’ (CNBV), an independent agency of Mexico’s Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), which holds technical autonomy and executive powers over the Mexican financial system. The CNVB finalized and published this legislation on August 29, 2017. All affected organizations must meet its requirements within one year, although organizations may apply for a nine-month extension.

Mexican banks, pension funds, and government agencies that provide credit services need a fingerprint scanning solution that integrates quickly and easily with identity management software applications. These scanners must operate under a wide range of environmental conditions in public environments such as ATMs. Fingerprinting is the preferred biometric method due to widespread existing use in the Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) voter registration databases. The overwhelming choice is Integrated Biometrics.

“Mexico is at the forefront of the movement to use technology to prevent fraud and money laundering, and to increase social inclusion across Latin America,” said Stephen Thies, Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Biometrics. “Our solutions providers and distributors in Mexico recognize the value, reliability, and user-friendly performance our products bring to their participation in these programs.”

CNVB requires that Mexican financial institutions except for credit unions and smaller banks, as well as select government agencies, provide robust multifactor biometric authentication for new accounts, including:

Credit cards

Checking

Savings

Payroll

Home loans

Personal loans

Microcredit loans

Customers enroll all ten fingers to open an account. Combined with biographical information, the government matches these fingerprints with national databases to verify each applicant’s identity. Successful validation enables the financial organization to open the account, and for the customer to use fingerprint-based identification to ensure that only authorized users may access the funds.

According to Marcos Martinez, president of the Mexican Banking Association, this billion-peso investment in technology is what banking institutions are willing to spend to reduce identity theft within the Mexican financial system. These regulations protect customers by substantially reducing the possibility of account takeover. They also provide powerful incentives for individuals to move their cash assets into the formal banking system by increasing the security and integrity of deposits.

Financial institutions gain by expanding the size and stability of the Mexican financial system, which in turn enhances the long-term performance potential for the overall Mexican economy. Other benefits include fraud control, prevention of money laundering, and structured improvements to progressive governance.